Is nuclear power becoming cool in Colorado? Discussion of a role for it is growing

Colorado has a new law declaring nuclear power a source of clean capacity The Denver airport might explore building a small nuclear reactor to meet the rising demand for electricity Local business civic and labor leaders see nuclear strength as the fuel of choice when Xcel Capacity stops burning coal at its power plants in Pueblo County Is nuclear power becoming cool in Colorado The state has had only one nuclear power plant Fort St Vrain near Platteville And it was converted to natural gas in after years of technical problems The former Rocky Flats weapons plant which produced plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs drew thousands of protesters for years to the site north of Denver including such prominent activists as Daniel Ellsberg and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg In Colorado voters were the first in the country to approve a renewable vigor mandate for utilities How has nuclear power with its baggage of radioactive waste and the Three Mile Island partial meltdown become a seriously considered option in the present day s fuel mix Worry about the demand for electricity outstripping limit and concerns about progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions led state Rep Alex Valdez a Denver Democrat to back law this year that defines nuclear power as clean He sponsored House Bill - which added nuclear to the strength sources that utilities can use to meet state clean potential targets As a kid I grew up in the s when a lot of talk about nuclear was in relation to the weaponry that was pointed at each other between the Soviet Union and the United States Valdez announced I think I just kind of lumped nuclear into the same conversations as majority of people do around its negative uses less desirable uses Valdez got a different perspective when he was appointed to the nuclear working group at the National Conference of State Legislatures The group visited France which gets about of its electricity from nuclear power Roughly of electricity in the U S comes from nuclear capacity With particular forecasts showing electricity demand rising dramatically Valdez explained the U S will have to add a tremendous amount of vigor to the grid if it s going to compete in quantum computing and other advanced equipment A boom in details center construction driven by increasing the use of artificial intelligence is expected to escalate the need for more electricity generation Valdez who spent largest part of his career in the renewable potential field explained the bill he sponsored recognizes that the power generated by nuclear ability is carbon-free As we move toward our path to zero-carbon ability it can be included in the mix to get us there Not ready for prime time A lot of the current interest in nuclear power revolves around a new innovation small modular nuclear reactors about one-tenth to one quarter the size of a conventional reactor They re billed as potentially less expensive safer easier to build and adaptable because modules can be added as more power is needed The device is also still in the growth and demonstration stage Just a sparse are operating in China and Russia No small modular reactors SMRs are in commercial use in the U S SMRs aren t ready for prime time stated Dennis Wamsted an analyst at the Institute for Vitality Economics and Financial Analysis You will hear from developers and others about the advantages The advantages right now are all on paper The institute focuses on research into the economics of expanding the use of renewable force We are not fans of nuclear power because it costs too much and that cost has been consistently high over the years We see no track record of it declining Wamsted noted We certainly don t see that happening with a new class of reactor that nobody s built before and nobody s run before Noah Rott a spokesman for the western region of the Sierra Club stated the environmental group feels that discussion around nuclear capacity is largely a distraction as utilities work to address electric load enhancement in the next decade Cleaner sources like wind solar demand response potency efficiency and storage are the answer here Rott reported in an email However the concept of an ability source that can run and emit no heat-trapping greenhouse gases when generating power is compelling Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston noted in August that the airport the country s third-busiest planned to commission a survey to explore the feasibility of building a small modular nuclear reactor on its campus to meet the growing demand for electricity in the area and cut the use of carbon-emitting power The airport put the investigation on hold after complaints that city functionaries hadn t talked to area residents first The airport determined that a broader scope will best serve its interests and requirements and will issue a request for information later this fall on multiple clean vitality solutions including reactors after first receiving ideas and input from the society spokeswoman Courtney Law mentioned in an email Wednesday Nuclear power generation is the top choice of a local advisory committee for replacing coal at Xcel Capacity s Comanche power plants near Pueblo Xcel has proposed tapping renewable potency battery storage and natural gas when it stops burning coal by But the Pueblo Innovative Resource Solutions Advisory Committee established by Xcel and group members declared renewable capacity facilities wouldn t provide the same number of jobs and tax revenue for local governments that nuclear or gas facilities would The committee is promoting installing SMRs Xcel Power operates nuclear facilities in Minnesota and has noted they re not off the table for Colorado but the new type of reactors likely won t be commercially available when the utility has to replace its coal plants The Western Governors Association WGA held workshops in September at the Idaho National Laboratory which focuses largely on nuclear capacity The workshops were part of an initiative by Utah Gov Spencer Cox called Resource Superabundance Unlocking Prosperity in the West Cox the WGA s chairman this year announced the country is looking to the West for means to meet the surge in need for more electricity Andy Cross The Denver PostSome population leaders want to see nuclear power replace coal-fired power when Xcel Vitality quits burning coal at the Comanche power plant in Pueblo County Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post Idaho Gov Brad Little revealed during a workshop that the U S won t meet its vitality demands with our legacy resource We re going to have to have scalable safe nuclear vitality Little explained While it could be five to years before small reactors are up and running in the U S Mark Jensen a chemistry professor at the Colorado School of Mines explained the federal authorities is more involved in promoting nuclear force than in the new past He noted that the Department of Force has opened federal sites to allow companies to test prototypes and that could help streamline advance Related Articles DIA would be smart to add nuclear as it s now officially clean Letters Denver airport delays assessment on using nuclear power to get inhabitants feedback Denver airport to explore nuclear potential as option to power increase New Colorado laws taking effect Aug from AI-generated revenge porn to regulations on bad landlords President Donald Trump has issued executive orders intended to invigorate the nuclear power industry and streamline regulations Jensen director of the nuclear science and engineering undertaking at the School of Mines noted more private money is flowing into nuclear projects than he has seen over the past years Wind solar the workhorses Jack Waldorf WGA executive director mentioned in an email that advancements in nuclear strength provide the opportunity to expand clean reliable generation of electricity but achieving true potency abundance will require a comprehensive approach Gov Jared Polis explained in a report that Colorado has a history as an innovator and nuclear capacity should be no different As projects become cost competitive and safer we should view nuclear force not as a competing power source to wind and solar but as a complementary explanation for better overall reliability and lower costs Will Toor executive director of the Colorado Ability Office agreed He announced as Colorado moves to more deeply cut emissions other technologies will be needed and nuclear ability should certainly be in the mix It s pretty clear that wind and solar will be the workhorses of the grid just looking at the cost modeling Toor announced You can build them relatively promptly and they re so much cheaper than other materials He expects nuclear power to be in a group of what he calls clean firm force sources ones that emit low or no greenhouse gases and provide round-the-clock power Toor announced geothermal potential is likely the furthest along among those sources The challenge with nuclear is really still the same challenge that it has been for utilities which is the cost how long it takes to build and the uncertainties of federal permitting Toor declared He added that he would be surprised if Colorado utilities moved ahead with conventional nuclear or to be first in line for the first-of-its-kind small modular reactor